Successful H1B (7th year renewal) stamping in Vancouver on 9/11/2006!

S

sfboy

Registered Users (C)
Hi folks,

Thanks to all the good Samaritans who described, in detail, their experiences at the Vancouver consulate! I guess its payback time now! I got my 7th year H1B renewal successfully stamped at Vancouver on 9/11/2006.

* Drove from Calif to Vancouver in a Hertz rental car. Got an insurance card-ish thing from my Insurance folks, in order to be able to drive in Canada.

* While entering Canada, it was very peaceful; no tension at all! Also, no one took my I-94 while leaving the US.

* I stayed at Days Inn on Kingsway - arnd 10-15 mts from the consulate by car. Very safe and quiet and relatively cheap compared to the hotels/motels in Downtown Vancouver.

* Drove to the consulate in the morning, parked in the downtown (there's tons of parking there - paid, of course) and stood in line by 7:30 AM (had an 8AM appointment). There's an African American guy who "disciplines" everyone there. he's the "Gabbar Singh" of that place! You irk/frustrate/upset/annoy him and he banishes you to the end of the line! U have been warned! :-)

* They asked for US$100 cash + passport + passport photo + printed DS-156 (with the bar code) + DS-157 + I-797 + employment verification letter. Thats it. Nothing else...no pay stubs/bank statements/tax returns/degrees/transcripts/previous H1Bs/nothing! Its good to have them handy, of course, just in case...

* At the counter, I was just asked 2 or 3 basic questions (which company do u work for/how long/what do u do there/etc) and I was asked to pay the reciprocity fee (US$50 in cash) and come back to collect the passport next day at 3 PM. Thats it!

* Next day, went back at 2:45-ish, stood in line and got back the passport with the Visa stamped.

* On my way back, the US immigration folks took my old I-94 and issued me a new one (charged me US$6 cash for the same). And lo! I was back in the US!

* Ah, and while u r in Vancouver, do visit Little india on Main Street and 49th/50th! There's tons of Desi shops there with typical Desi names (Mona Cloth House/Roop fashion); even the street names are written in Punjabi (besides English, of course)!

I'll be checking this thread for the next few days; in case u have any queries, lemme know.....

Good luck to all!

-Sai.
 
Congratulations Sai,

Sai,

Congratulations on your successful stamping. I'm going there with family for my 7th year extension on the 20th for our apppointment on 21st ofthis month. A few questions:

Did you see anyone being denied? If yes, for what reasons?
Did you see anyone not getting passports back the next day?
Did you see anyone's case being held for name check? If yes, did they cancel the previous visa? We have our previous stamp valid until 9/30 and the new I-797 start date is 10/1/2006.

how much time it takes in total from the time you stand in line until you get out of there?

thanks for the detailed post and would appreciate your response!
 
Hi "Bomber"!

> Congratulations on your successful stamping.
Thanks a lot!!

> I'm going there with family for my 7th year extension on the 20th for our
> apppointment on 21st ofthis month.
Good luck to you all!

> A few questions:
Sure...

> Did you see anyone being denied? If yes, for what reasons?
Hmm..since my appointment was at 8 AM and I was the fourth in line, sadly, I don't quite have too many updates on that front. All three folks in fromnt of me were H1Bs (new + renewal) and they DID NOT have any problems. Sorry, couldn't be of much help here..

> Did you see anyone not getting passports back the next day?
Nope. All the folks who had queued up outside the consulate the next day at 3 PM did seem to get their passports back with the visas stamped, to the best of my knowledege. If someone didn't, I'm definitely not aware of it..

> Did you see anyone's case being held for name check? If yes, did
> they cancel the previous visa?
Again, did not run into any such cases while I was there..

> We have our previous stamp valid until 9/30 and the new I-797 start date is
> 10/1/2006.
U should be ok. I think I read somewhere that, if ur current H1B is valid, then u can get ur new H1B stamped in Vancouver only if the validity period is less than 30 days. That is true in ur case (Sep 21/30), so u should be good (DISCLAIMER: Since my prev H1B had actually expired on July 1, I did not research this topic too much; this is just something I recall off the top of my head!)

> how much time it takes in total from the time you stand in line until you
> get out of there?
Hmm...for the interview, it took me arnd..hmm...max 15 mts from the time I went in; but I was in the queue for 30-40 mts...AND I was the fourth person inside the consulate. I guess the more ppl there are in front of you, the longer the wait time could be...

Passport collection took all of 5 mts from the time they let me in..the queue in front of me was rather long, but it moved real quick..must have taken me 10 mts max, from the time they started letting ppl in...and when I came out, the queue was all gone!

> thanks for the detailed post
Ur welcome! I just thought I might as well make myself useful, having benefited from the generous info-sharing by scores of others in these amazing forums!

> and would appreciate your response!
Hope I was of help!


Regards,
Sai.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
sfboy said:
Hi folks,

Thanks to all the good Samaritans who described, in detail, their experiences at the Vancouver consulate! I guess its payback time now! I got my 7th year H1B renewal successfully stamped at Vancouver on 9/11/2006.

* Drove from Calif to Vancouver in a Hertz rental car. Got an insurance card-ish thing from my Insurance folks, in order to be able to drive in Canada.

* While entering Canada, it was very peaceful; no tension at all! Also, no one took my I-94 while leaving the US.

* I stayed at Days Inn on Kingsway - arnd 10-15 mts from the consulate by car. Very safe and quiet and relatively cheap compared to the hotels/motels in Downtown Vancouver.

* Drove to the consulate in the morning, parked in the downtown (there's tons of parking there - paid, of course) and stood in line by 7:30 AM (had an 8AM appointment). There's an African American guy who "disciplines" everyone there. he's the "Gabbar Singh" of that place! You irk/frustrate/upset/annoy him and he banishes you to the end of the line! U have been warned! :-)

* They asked for US$100 cash + passport + passport photo + printed DS-156 (with the bar code) + DS-157 + I-797 + employment verification letter. Thats it. Nothing else...no pay stubs/bank statements/tax returns/degrees/transcripts/previous H1Bs/nothing! Its good to have them handy, of course, just in case...

* At the counter, I was just asked 2 or 3 basic questions (which company do u work for/how long/what do u do there/etc) and I was asked to pay the reciprocity fee (US$50 in cash) and come back to collect the passport next day at 3 PM. Thats it!

* Next day, went back at 2:45-ish, stood in line and got back the passport with the Visa stamped.

* On my way back, the US immigration folks took my old I-94 and issued me a new one (charged me US$6 cash for the same). And lo! I was back in the US!

* Ah, and while u r in Vancouver, do visit Little india on Main Street and 49th/50th! There's tons of Desi shops there with typical Desi names (Mona Cloth House/Roop fashion); even the street names are written in Punjabi (besides English, of course)!

I'll be checking this thread for the next few days; in case u have any queries, lemme know.....

Good luck to all!

-Sai.
Click to expand...

Congratulations! I have one question..do you have US degree or only indian degree. The reason i am asking is, people say you will be more successful if you have US degree.

Thanks,
 
sfboy said:
Hi "Bomber"!

> Congratulations on your successful stamping.
Thanks a lot!!

> I'm going there with family for my 7th year extension on the 20th for our
> apppointment on 21st ofthis month.
Good luck to you all!

> A few questions:
Sure...

> Did you see anyone being denied? If yes, for what reasons?
Hmm..since my appointment was at 8 AM and I was the fourth in line, sadly, I don't quite have too many updates on that front. All three folks in fromnt of me were H1Bs (new + renewal) and they DID NOT have any problems. Sorry, couldn't be of much help here..

> Did you see anyone not getting passports back the next day?
Nope. All the folks who had queued up outside the consulate the next day at 3 PM did seem to get their passports back with the visas stamped, to the best of my knowledege. If someone didn't, I'm definitely not aware of it..

> Did you see anyone's case being held for name check? If yes, did
> they cancel the previous visa?
Again, did not run into any such cases while I was there..

> We have our previous stamp valid until 9/30 and the new I-797 start date is
> 10/1/2006.
U should be ok. I think I read somewhere that, if ur current H1B is valid, then u can get ur new H1B stamped in Vancouver only if the validity period is less than 30 days. That is true in ur case (Sep 21/30), so u should be good (DISCLAIMER: Since my prev H1B had actually expired on July 1, I did not research this topic too much; this is just something I recall off the top of my head!)

> how much time it takes in total from the time you stand in line until you
> get out of there?
Hmm...for the interview, it took me arnd..hmm...max 15 mts from the time I went in; but I was in the queue for 30-40 mts...AND I was the fourth person inside the consulate. I guess the more ppl there are in front of you, the longer the wait time could be...

Passport collection took all of 5 mts from the time they let me in..the queue in front of me was rather long, but it moved real quick..must have taken me 10 mts max, from the time they started letting ppl in...and when I came out, the queue was all gone!

> thanks for the detailed post
Ur welcome! I just thought I might as well make myself useful, having benefited from the generous info-sharing by scores of others in these amazing forums!

> and would appreciate your response!
Hope I was of help!


Regards,
Sai.
Click to expand...


Thanks Sai for being so understanding and patient with my questions. Going to Vancouver today and will definitely come back to share my experience with others.
 
did u have valid visa stamp & unexpired i-94?

mine expired back in 2005, and i was wondering if its advisable to go to vancouver for 7th year extension stamp.
 
ciril99 said:
Congratulations! I have one question..do you have US degree or only indian degree. The reason i am asking is, people say you will be more successful if you have US degree.

Thanks,
Click to expand...

Hi,

Apologies for the delay..visiting India currently..

I do have a US Masters degree (in addition, of course, to an undergrad degree from India)..


Regards,
Sai.
 
redindian said:
did u have valid visa stamp & unexpired i-94?

mine expired back in 2005, and i was wondering if its advisable to go to vancouver for 7th year extension stamp.
Click to expand...


Hi,

The H1B visa stamped in my passport expired in July 2006;
so did the I-94 stapled to my passport (issued at the airport).
Since u do get a new I-94 alongwith ur I-797, you aren't out-of-status..


Regards,
Sai.
 
Sai,

Thanks for sharing your experience at Vancouver consulate.

It would be a great if you could share some more information like

1. How & where did you take Canadian Visa?
2. Will they accept cash towards application fee
3. Can we get a canadian visa in Seattle?
 
Hi Vinhari,

> Sai,
> Thanks for sharing your experience at Vancouver consulate.
Ur welcome!


> It would be a great if you could share some more information like
> 1. How & where did you take Canadian Visa?
I got my Canadian Visa from the LA consulate well in advance (no appointment needed, BTW).


> 2. Will they accept cash towards application fee
Nope, they require a US$70 Cashiers Check for a single-entry visa.


> 3. Can we get a canadian visa in Seattle?
Yes, you can; I ran into a few folks who did just that, a day before coming to Vancouver.

While on that, I would like to mention that the LA Canadian consulate folks DO NOT return your passport to you on the same day on Fridays. On other weekdays, they do. You might want to double-check with the Seattle Canadian consulate regarding their same-day-passport-return policy, especially on Fridays...


Regards,
Sai.
 
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